In the early 1600s, the government in the Netherlands was not
strongly centralized. Each of the provinces jealously guarded and
preserved its special privileges and customs, a practice which
continued for a long time. These differences in dialect and
social customs frequently transferred to the Dutch settlements in
America, as each settlement reflected the locality in the
Netherlands from which each group originated.

It was not until 1648 that the new northern state known as the
Netherlands, the Dutch Republic and Holland came into existence
through the Treaty of Munster. The government was a loose
confederation of seven provinces with statelands called Brabant and
Limburg. The statelands were not given provincial status until
many years later. The government established by the Treaty of
Munster lasted until 1795.

The economic preponderance of the Province of Holland, as compared
to other provinces, also helped give unity to the fragmented state.
Most of the Dutch financial and commercial enterprises were located
in Holland. Holland regularly contributed over half of the
National Budget. Because of its financial dominance, Holland had
a commanding voice in the conducting of the government, and it was
the great importance of Holland that made it commonplace to refer
to the whole Netherlands as Holland.

When the Dutch began colonizing, they were not originally too
interested in North America. They preferred the more lucrative
tropical products and the Baltic trade. Cod season off of the
Newfoundland coast coincided with herring season nearer to home.
To improve their dominance in the tropical products trade, the
Dutch were busy establishing colonies in Brazil. Exploring vessels
were sent between 1609 and 1614. It was this period in time when
the Dutch became mildly interested in trade with the American
Indians and finding a northeast passage through North America to
the Orient. In 1609, an Englishman by the name of Henry Hudson was
hired by the Dutch to find a northeast passage through the new
world to the Orient and India. The voyage of Hudson's ship, The
Halve Moon, failed to find such a passage, but Hudson brought back
detailed maps and information on the northeast coast of North
America.

In North America, the Dutch claimed the land between the Delaware
River and the Connecticut River. This territory was 175 miles in
width at the coastline, a territory which became known as New
Netherland.

In New Netherland, Fort Nassau was established about 1614 on the
upper Hudson River at Castle Island, later destroyed by floods in
1617. Fort Orange was built on the west bank of the Hudson River
and later became the nucleus for present day Albany. In 1623,
officials of the Dutch West Indies Company were permitted to
establish and govern the colonies as they saw fit.

Most of the colonists that came to the New Netherlands during the
1623 to 1624 time period were either Protestant refugees, Walloons
from the Spanish Netherlands, or Huguenots from France. They
settled at Fort Orange, Governor's Island, off of the tip of
Manhattan Island and south on the Delaware River. (called South
River) It was at this location near what is today Gloucester, NJ,
that the next Fort Nassau was later built. It was not long
afterward that this fort was abandoned because of conflict with the
Quakers. (The Quakers tended to be very clannish and would trade
only with their own. If a Quaker were selling something for 100
pounds and a Dutchman were selling the same thing for only 50
pounds, the Quaker would buy from the Quaker. Being the merchants
that they were, the Dutch did not find this a very lucrative way to
live.)

In 1625, Cryn Fredericksz, the new governor of the New Netherlands,
built Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island. The settlement which
grew up around this fort became known as New Amsterdam or today New
York City. Fredericksz was replaced by Governor Verhulst.
Governor Verhulst moved the Delaware colonists to Manhattan Island
and the colonists at Fort Orange were permitted to stay where they
were.

In 1626, Pieter Minuit took over for Verhulst and purchased
Manhattan Island from the Indians. In 1635, Fort Nassau on the
Delaware River was regarrisoned. A trading post was established in
what is now Philadelphia and was abandoned a short time later.

In 1640, persons of limited economic means were encouraged to
settle in the New Netherlands by being promised 200 acres of land
to each person who went to the colony with 5 souls above 15 years
of age. They had to settle the area given within 3 years with 50
people. These patronships, however, were not succesful.

In 1644 and up to 1654, 200 Dutch soldiers and refugees from the
failed Brazil colonies arrived in New Amsterdam. Between 1654 and
1659, small groups of boys and girls from poorhouses and orphan
asylums were transported to New Netherland. They were under
contract to work for a time and given freedom afterward. Be aware
that some Dutch were coming to America through the auspices of
Sweden during this time.

In 1664, the English began their takeover of New Netherland.
Governor Pieter Stuyvesant wanted to fight the English, and defend
the Dutch colony. The Domini, or Reformed Dutch Church Pastor,
convinced Stuyvesant that the Dutch were outgunned and that it was
senseless to fight, and thus Governor Stuyvesant surrendered to the
English. Since the Dutch interest was commercial gain, the English
did not interfere or restrict Dutch trading.

In the early 1660s, some of the Dutch began moving south into New
Jersey, establishing Bergen (now Jersey City), and Hackensack in
Bergen County, New Jersey. At this time Bergen, or Jersey City, was
also part of Bergen County. The settlements were small and grew
along the waterways. The Reformed Dutch Church grew along with the
settlements.